The Red String: Without You
by daenyri
Summary: Every soul has a soul mate. On Earth, the only sign that a person may be your said soul mate is an invisible red string that ties onto the pinky of one person and ends with the other. This is Sam and Mercedes' story, but sometimes, some stories are harder to tell than others. Sometimes, the red string can become broken.


_Disclaimer: I do not own these characters._

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Chapter One

"Do you think he's coming today?"

Eyebrow raised, Mercedes sent a look towards her best friend of five years—her mouth set in a tiny line as she rested her hands on the top of the sales counter. After several seconds of her giving him her classic 'side-eye', she sighed and turned her head towards the front door of the music shop she had owned since she was nineteen. "You're not helping," she pouted as she watched the door intently.

"If you would actually take the initiative and _ask him out_, then maybe I wouldn't concern myself with this shit," Noah Puckerman scoffed as he pushed the door to the cash register closed after having deposited some change. Doing a one-eighty, he leaned against the sales counter with his arms crossed as he sent Mercedes a knowing look. When she didn't dare look at him, he rolled his eyes. "You know for a fact that every single fucking time he comes in here, you always want to be the person to take care of him. If I didn't know any better, I'd say you're the reason why he buys so much shit from us, Cede. Boy ain't blind and neither am I. I see the way he looks at you and so does Artie."

With her lower lip more pronounced as she deepened her pout—her eyes never leaving the front door for even a second—the dark skinned woman of twenty four years 'hmphed' and lightly punched Puck in the arm. Hearing a sound of mock pain, she glared at him. "If he looks at me so much then why doesn't _he _make the first move then? Huh? Tell me _that_, Puckerman!"

"Hell, if I know," he replied as he shrugged his shoulders. Completely ignoring her glare, Puck walked off of the raised area behind the sales counter and back towards the stock room—Mercedes' chocolate brown eyes following him the whole way. "I don't really give a shit either way," he yelled. "You're the one in love with him."

Mouth open in shock at his words and with denial shining in her eyes, Mercedes sputtered for a second—ready to give Puck a piece of her mind, but stopping herself as soon as the sound of the front door opening reached her ears. All too eagerly, she turned her head—almost giving herself whip lash—as she attempted to see if _he _was finally here.

For several months now, the nameless man with soft green eyes and shining golden hair had been coming in and buying several hundred dollars' worth of equipment. Normally, Mercedes never really took notice of those that came in and out of Treble & Bass—except for the occasional extremely hot guy—but he was different.

There was something about him that kept Mercedes' interest and eyes practically clinging to him as if they were both magnets, and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't stop herself from wanting to know everything about him.

He was completely different from those she normally dated—with his small black gauges, 'hipster' style clothing, and southern accent—but each and every time their eyes met it was like sparks flew between them. It was addicting.

"Welcome to Treble & Bass!" Mercedes said enthusiastically as she backed away from the counter and in direct vision of the possible customer. As soon as she saw it was simply Artie, her other best friend of six years as well as her employee, she let out a breath of air and closed her eyes.

"Well don't you look happy to see me?"

"Sorry, boo," she replied as she turned apologetic eyes his way. "I just—I thought you were a customer and it's just been dead all day."

Artie nodded slowly in understanding as he wheeled himself up the tiny ramp so he could be behind the counter. "A slow day is always a blessing in disguise," he said as he looked her in the eyes. "Who knows? Maybe your lover will come in."

"He is_ not _my_ lover! _Damn it. _Noah Puckerman!_"

The sound of Puck laughing in the stock room could be heard and for a second, Artie was concerned for his friend's health as he watched Mercedes march back to the back with her fists balled.

* * *

This wasn't going to work, Sam decided as he crossed out yet another apartment listing on the newspaper he was holding in his hand. He groaned in aggravation and hit his head against the steering wheel of his Jeep, already through with looking for apartments after only three tries.

Ever since his band had started to become popular in Denver, CO, he had figured out quickly that he needed a new place to stay if it meant staying on the good side of his band mates who also were his roommates. Finn and Joe were cool, but living with them could get a little… bad every now and then. They were all different people when it came to how they lived and after seeing how well Santana, their bass player, was doing with her own place, Sam decided he had to get his own as well. He had enough money now anyways after they found a steady gig at the Mountain—a bar and club in the heart of Denver.

Chewing on his bottom lip as he stared at the newspaper again for what seemed like the thousandth time, Sam sighed as he turned on the engine to his Jeep. He looked behind him before driving out of the parallel parking spot in front of the apartment building—headed straight for the club for band practice.

Before he could even make it on the right side of the road, he was soon jerked forwards as his Jeep ran straight into another car he had failed to see.

* * *

"He didn't come today."

"_I know_."

"Are you sad?"

"Shut up, Puckerman."

"I'm just asking a question."

"You and Artie _both _have been asking questions since an hour before closing and frankly, I'm tired of it. Both of you can suck my lady balls for all I care."

"I didn't know you had balls, Mercedes! What else have you been keeping from us?"

Shooting a death glare at Artie who immediately shut up and wheeled back to the back room, Mercedes sent a duplicate look Puck's way. He simply rolled his eyes in reply and went back to counting down the register—decidedly keeping his mouth shut now.

She continued her glare for a second longer before returning back to shutting down the other register. Just as she was about to count the ones, her phone began vibrating in her pocket—the number lit up on her screen completely foreign to her. After a second or two of staring at it with her eyebrow's furrowed, she finally accepted the call.

"All right, I'm done now. You finished with that one yet?"

No reply. Turning his head her way, Puck tilted his head to the side as he watched a tear roll down her cheek—her mouth open in shock and her hand shaking as she attempted calm her heart. "Cedes?" He asked cautiously as he stepped closer. "Cedes, what's wrong?"

Without even looking at him, Mercedes shakily put her phone back in her pocket and whispered, "My brother got into a car accident…"

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**AN: **Sooo... yeah! That's the first chapter. What'd ya think? :D

Reviews and constructive criticism are welcome!


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